Monday, monday, nothing but a fun day. I notice the chickadees and white-breasted nuthatches are once again vying for the same nesting hole in the may tree. For the last three years the chickadees won the lease for the summer, usually raising two or three broods during their tenancy. This year though both the chickadees and nuthatches have also been excavating a new hole a downey woodpecker started while looking for tasty treats in an old birch stump last winter. It seems the Chickadees are favoring the new abode, probably cause its higher altitude, its above my head whereas the may tree hole is only 4 feet up. Sparrows have chased them off a few times so the nuthatches have gone back to cleaning the may tree home. 
It was fun to watch the nuthatches on the may tree, the male was chipping away at the entrance and the female was vibrating her wings and tail, the male would fly a short distance away then the female would enter the hole and fly out with debris and dispose of it then the male would fly back and chip some more in front of the excited female. Ahh there is nothing like the anticipation of a new nest.
White-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted NuthatchThese two small 9"x9" watercolor paintings are presently shown at Johnson Gallery in Edmonton.
It was fun to watch the nuthatches on the may tree, the male was chipping away at the entrance and the female was vibrating her wings and tail, the male would fly a short distance away then the female would enter the hole and fly out with debris and dispose of it then the male would fly back and chip some more in front of the excited female. Ahh there is nothing like the anticipation of a new nest.
White-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch
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